"I never really took myself seriously as an actor before," the Winnipeg Free Press quotes him as saying. "I wanted to try and do small parts in movies that I thought I could learn something from. Just damage control, basically, so I could learn a little bit."

The Cosmopolis star admitted that he came close to abandoning the industry, before he was offered the lead role in David Cronenberg's dark screenplay.

"Before I did [Cosmopolis] I was fully intending on hiding for a couple of years," he said, "but this has really reinvigorated my ideas about acting."

Pattinson also added that he plans to avoid large productions in the future.

"I like being slightly on the fringe... rather than trying to get movies that are sort of vehicles," he explained. "So yeah, I'm kind of going more in that direction."

Cosmopolis is released in the UK on June 15 and will open in the US later this year.